| Main entry | Machar, Agnes Maule |
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| Birth place | Kingston, Ontario |
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| Birth date | 23 January 1837 |
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| Death place | Kingston, Ontario |
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| Death date | 24 January 1927 |
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| Identifier | 0433 |
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| Birth name | Agnes Maule Machar |
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| Alternate names | Fidelis, "a Lady of Ontario" |
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| Marital status | single |
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| Religious affiliation | Presbyterian |
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| Paid work | journalist |
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| Biography | Agnes Maule Machar (1837-1927) was born in Kingston, Ontario, her home for her entire life. Of Scottish Presbyterian descent, she was strongly influenced by her parents and the social gospel movement emanating from Queen's College. Her father, a minister in Kingston and later president of Queen's, taught Agnes ancient and modern languages, and at twelve, his pupil was already translating Ovid into English rhyme. First publishing poems and didactic works, she eventually wrote a juvenile novel, KATIE JOHNSTONE'S CROSS (1870), which won a prize for the "book best suited to the needs of the Sunday School library." Her best known novel, ROLAND GRAEME: KNIGHT (1892), supports the reforms sought by the Knights of Labour. Many of her works follow religious themes and are meant to instruct the young about Christianity. In addition to her literary pursuits, Agnes was the first life member of the International Council of Women, and worked for such causes as women's education, temperance, animal welfare, workers' rights, and social reform. While living in Kingston, she often spent her summers at "Ferncliff" in Gananoque near the Thousand Islands. |
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| Travel | travelled frequently (see entry in DCB) |
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| Honours and awards | 1st place for KATIE JOHNSTONE'S CROSS: A CANADIAN TALE, "The best book suited to the needs of the Sunday School library," given by a Toronto publisher (1870) |
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| Residences | Kingston, Ontario (1837-1927) |
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| Geographic regions | Ontario |
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| Primary genres | poetry; fiction |
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| Books | FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH: A MEMORIAL OF JOHN ANDERSON, LATE JANITOR OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE (1870);
KATIE JOHNSTONE'S CROSS (1870);
LUCY RAYMOND: OR, THE CHILDREN'S WATCHWORD (1871);
MEMORIALS OF THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF THE REV. JOHN MACHAR, D.D., LATE MINISTER OF ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, KINGSTON (1873);
FOR KING AND COUNTRY: A STORY OF 1812 (1874); KINGSTON AND ITS VICINITY [1884?];
RED-CROSS KNIGHTS OF THE SALVATION ARMY (1884);
STORIES OF NEW FRANCE: BEING TALES OF ADVENTURE AND HEROISM FROM THE EARLY HISTORY OF CANADA (1890);
ROLAND GRAEME, KNIGHT: A NOVEL OF OUR TIME (1892);
MARJORIE'S CANADIAN WINTER: A STORY OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS (1892);
HEROES OF CANADA (1893);
STORIES FROM CANADIAN HISTORY: BASED UPON "STORIES OF NEW FRANCE" (1893);
DOWN THE RIVER TO THE SEA (c1894);
THE HEIR OF FAIRMOUNT GRANGE (1895);
MÈRE MARIE-ROSE (1895);
LAYS OF THE "TRUE NORTH" AND OTHER CANADIAN POEMS (1899);
THE STORY OF OLD KINGSTON (c1905);
FROM DAWN TO DARKNESS, OR PAPAL LEGENDS UNDER HISTORIC SEARCHLIGHTS [1913];
STORIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE FOR YOUNG FOLKS AND BUSY FOLKS (1913, 1914);
THE CALL OF CHRISTMAS 1914 [1914?];
A CHILD OF THE LIGHT [1916?];
HOLY COMMUNION [192-?];
THE THOUSAND ISLANDS (1935) |
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| Periodicals | ANDOVER REVIEW; CANADIAN MAGAZINE; CANADIAN MONTHLY AND NATIONAL REVIEW; CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN; CATHOLIC PRESBYTERIAN; CENTURY; CHRISTIAN UNION HERALD; CROSS MAGAZINE; GOOD HOUSEKEEPING; MAGAZINE OF POETRY; PRESBYTERIAN REVIEW; QUEEN'S QUARTERLY; ROSE-BELFORD'S CANADIAN MONTHLY; ST. NICHOLAS; THE WEEK; WESTMINSTER REVIEW; WIDE AWAKE (BOSTON) |
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| Other publications | Anthologized in: Burpee, CENTURY OF CANADIAN SONNETS (1910); Burpee, FLOWERS FROM A CANADIAN GARDEN (1909); Campbell, OXFORD BOOK OF CANADIAN VERSE (1913); Carman and Pierce, OUR CANADIAN LITERATURE (1934); Caswell, CANADIAN SINGERS AND THEIR SONGS (1925); Garvin, CANADIAN POEMS OF THE GREAT WAR (1918); Harrison, CANADIAN BIRTHDAY BOOK (1887); Lighthall, CANADIAN POEMS AND LAYS (c1892); Lighthall, SONGS OF THE GREAT DOMINION (1889); Rand, TREASURY OF CANADIAN VERSE (1900); Roberts, POEMS OF WILD LIFE (1888); Ross, PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS AND ARBOR DAY EXERCISES (1893); Stephen, VOICES OF CANADA (1926); Wetherall, LATER CANADIAN POEMS (1893). Translated: Cornet-Auquier, YOUNG SOLDIERS HEARTS OF FRANCE (c1919). Contributed to: BUILDERS OF CANADA FROM CARTIER TO LAURIER (c1903) (in 1905 as GIANTS OF THE DOMINION FROM CARTIER TO LAURIER and GREAT CANADIANS FROM CARTIER TO LAURIER) |
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| Organizations | Honorary member, Women's Canadian Historical Society |
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| Father's name | John Machar |
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| Life dates of father | December 1796, Tannadice, Scotland - 7 February 1863, Ontario; m. 1832 |
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| Father's note | migrated to Kingston in 1827; Scottish Presbyterian minister, both in Scotland and Kingston, Ontario; principal for nine years of Queen's University (then, Queen's College) |
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| Mother's name | Margaret Sim |
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| Life dates of mother | 14 June 1797, Scotland - 1883; m. 1832 |
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| Mother's note | daughter of Scottish minister; mother's maiden name was "Maule"; leader in good works |
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| Biographical references | Dictionary of Literary Biography 92; Brouwer, "Machar, Agnes Maule," DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY XV, University of Toronto/Université Laval (Web, 2000); D.M. Hallman, "Religion and Gender in the Writing and Work of Agnes Maule Machar," Thesis (Ph.D.), University of Toronto, 1994; Nancy Miller Chenier, "Agnes Maule Machar: Her Life, Her Social Concerns, and a Preliminary Bibliography of her Writing," MA Thesis, Carleton University, 1977; Moulton, THE MAGAZINE OF POETRY, VOL. 2 (1890), pp. 94-95 |
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| Bibliographic references | Watters, CHECKLIST OF CANADIAN LITERATURE...1620-1960 (1970), pp. 126, 336, 540, 628, 705, 884 |
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| Research references | complete |
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| Archival references | scattered items, including correspondence with W.W. Campbell, Queen's University Archives; correspondence, Century Company Papers, New York Public Library; correspondence, several collections such as Denison, Frechette, Laurier Collections, National Archives of Canada; correspondence, W.D. Lighthall Papers, McGill University; correspondence, MacMillan Papers, McMaster University; correspondence with Lousia Murray, York University Library; various, Helena Coleman Collection, University of Victoria Library. |
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| Image credits | Image from Edward S. Caswell, ed., CANADIAN SINGERS AND THEIR SONGS: A COLLECTION OF PORTRAITS, AUTOGRAPH POEMS AND BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES 3rd ed. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1925). |
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| Unverified titles | LOST AND WON |
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| Copyright | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. Please cite Canada's Early Women Writers. SFU Library Digital Collections. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada. 1980-2014. |
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